


Oh Harry 😔

by Ladybird_Sparrow



Series: Neville's Cauldron [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Author Is Sleep Deprived, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I Don't Even Know, I Tried, POV Tom Riddle, Professor Tom Riddle, Somewhat Good Voldemort (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:56:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23321308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladybird_Sparrow/pseuds/Ladybird_Sparrow
Summary: The Boy Who Lived has finally joined Hogwarts this year!But Prof Tom Marvolo Slytherin, Hogwarts' Deputy Headmaster and also Hogwarts DADA professor, had found the boy's actions to be peculiar. What's more, his beloved basilisk had met a new friend!
Relationships: Harry Potter & Tom Riddle | Voldemort
Series: Neville's Cauldron [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957882
Comments: 25
Kudos: 84
Collections: Corona Challenge





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [de_Trices](https://archiveofourown.org/users/de_Trices/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [de_Trices](https://archiveofourown.org/users/de_Trices/pseuds/de_Trices) in the [CoronaChallenge](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/CoronaChallenge) collection. 



> (I'm sorry, there would be no slash for the fic because Harry's too young to even think about it. ^^;  
> it was too late when I remembered the shipping tag ; v; )
> 
> **Prompt:**  
> 
> 
> Riddle’s the DADA professor at Hogwarts, and he has more than a bit of difficulty trying to reel in our favourite Gryffindor during class.  
> But then Madam Pomfrey is concerned about Harry. Why doesn’t he have any of his vaccines? Why are his bones so weak and malnourished?

The first sign that gave Tom the idea that something was wrong was the boy’s _food-stealing_ at the Start-of-Term Feast. It would make sense if it was the Halloween feast. Everybody would expect the kids to pocket a handful of candies and sweets. Every teacher had dreaded the impending sugar rush that mostly lasts for weeks afterward. But no, Potter had wrapped sausages, fried chicken wings and several pieces of bread with the linens and pocketed it. Then to his peers’ bewilderment, the boy had acted as if he had not done what he just did. 

Tom sipped from his goblet and carefully sliced his roast beef. He delivered an attentive air for his colleagues’ dull discussions while he continued on with his observations in the Great Hall. Now that he thought about it, the boy was too short and too thin for his age.

It made him raise an eyebrow when he watched how little Potter ate, but the bits of pocketed food when the child thought his peers were distracted grew more and more. It was a curious behavior. At its core, the boy's actions reminded Tom of how he was back then in his early years at Hogwarts. But of course, Tom had more subtlety and grace expected for someone sorted into Slytherin. Still, Tom had experienced hunger in the orphanage and he would often save up food for himself whenever he had to go back there. Tom noted though that he had to tell Minerva later on that the Weasley twins saw what Potter was doing and had started to bag pies, pudding and a pitcher of pumpkin juice.

At least, the boy's robes looked brand new and fit him well enough, unlike Tom’s first year with his second-hand robes. Potter's image, however --except for the house the boy was unfortunately sorted into-- did not fit what Tom had assumed to see in an heir. Especially, somebody as famous as the child who they all had deemed to name as ‘The Boy Who Lived’. 

Tom had caught Severus’ gaze who was seated right beside him. No doubt that their Potions Master had already picked up Potter’s odd behavior and was comparing the boy to his dead father. By all means, Tom knew how uncouth the older Potter could be when he wanted to. Tom had taught the impertinent late Auror here in Hogwarts after all. Still, James Potter acted like a proper heir should be, most of the time. Unlike his son who looked as if he didn’t even know a single thing about table manners. Granted, that the Headmaster had finally admitted to them --just this morning, mind-- that the boy grew up with his muggle relatives, but that was not an excuse on why the child acted this way. 

“I had news that the Potter brat had already offended Draco in the train,” Severus informed Tom as quietly as he could. “Unfortunately, Potter is obviously like his father.” 

It was instinctive for a person to grasp at the lesser evils he could see, and Tom knew that in Severus’ mind, the boy would be better off as a spoiled uncultured brat than the otherwise adverse signs had pointed at. Nobody, especially the both of them, wanted to see a mistreated child. But of course, their Flying Instructor had to react. Tom had always believed that Black’s superb hearing had something to do with his dog animagus form, given that he was seated a few seats away from them. 

“As expected of Snivellus to gossip about young children,” Sirius Black had said before he leaned in towards their direction and pointed his knife at the Potions Professor. “If you give my godson a hard time, I swear in Godrick’s name I will cut you.” After all these years, Black still blamed Severus for getting the werewolf expelled even though it was Black and the late Potter’s fault that it happened in the first place.

“Oh, really? Tell me, Black, does the Potter brat even know who you are?” Severus replied with a dull tone and a sly smirk. Tom internally winced at the jab. That was a sore subject considering that Black had been declared as an unfit guardian for the boy just because of who the mutt had decided to marry. Not that Tom could find any fault with what Severus had chosen to poke Black with. There were various ways that Tom could think of how Black could have gotten Potter's custody. It was the mutt’s fault that he continued on with his Gryffindor idiocy.

And of course, as the Deputy Headmaster, Tom would have to talk to some of his trusted colleagues of what he had suspected about the boy. For now, he had to stop the two men from arguing further before it got worse as per usual whenever Black had decided to open his mouth. 

“If the both of you do not stop this foolish squabble, I would be forced to feed you both to the basilisk, then let her excrete you two, deep inside the Forbidden Forest,” Tom spoke his threat casually before he consumed the food pierced on his fork. It was routine at this point that Tom would catch Minerva’s eyes before she rolled them in exasperation, then Tom’s eyes would shift to the side catching their ever disappointed Headmaster’s gaze.

“I would like to have a word with you if you will, Tom,” Headmaster Albus Dumbledore told him gently before standing up, signaling the end of the feast for everyone.

* * *

  
  


Like always, their long-winded conversation about Basil, their beloved giant resident snake, had lasted rather late. Tom wanted to visit her before he retired for the evening and so he headed towards the second floor.

Every term, with excuses about the student’s safety, the headmaster would try to convince Tom to move Basil into the habitat that their _old friend_ had prepared. As if Tom had severed ties with Newton Scamander after the war. He knew that the retired Magizoologist only wanted to have his pet snake in his collection. Not exactly written with that exact words but it was essentially what Scamander wrote to him every Yule.

Albus wanted to remove the basilisk even before the older man had become the Headmaster. The man’s paranoia with him had strengthened since Tom had discovered the Chamber of Secrets in his fifth year. The Headmaster could only remain frustrated that he couldn’t do anything about it. As the last remaining heir of the infamous founder, the basilisk inside the castle was Tom’s birthright and he would do anything to protect his beloved pet. 

Certainly, the basilisk was indeed monstrous and dangerous but nobody could prove that the giant serpent had purposely harmed anybody. Besides, Basil was trained, Tom could command her not to harm anyone, and the board of directors had approved his claim that the basilisk was a big part of Hogwarts protection that Salazar Slytherin had placed himself. Tom had made sure of it when he went on with his war to clean Slytherin’s name before he legally took it for his own. Or that Tom had made sure everyone would believe this narrative, of course. It was hard for him not to smile every time he would be reminded of one of his biggest achievements.

After the war against Grindelwald was over, Tom had fought tooth and nail to prove to the Ministry of Magic that Slytherin’s ill intent with the muggle-borns was falsely accused. That it had only been a result of different interpretations mixed with prejudice and malice. And that after Slytherin’s legacy had been handed down generation after generation, Slytherine’s true objective had been unfortunately lost in translation. 

The rituals and tomes that were found in the Slytherin’s Chamber of Secrets was a big factor in Tom’s campaign that Slytherin did not want to kill the muggle-borns. He had pushed the narrative that Salazar Slytherin knew that it would be detrimental for the Wizarding World’s population if they cast out the muggle-borns.

Eventually, the Ministry of Magic was forced to see and accept Tom’s reasoning. The ministry even passed a bill that forced publications to debunk the _wrong_ and _negative assumptions_ about Slytherin that was previously published and had funded the reconstruction of the Chamber’s entrance into a much more respectable one than the intended humiliation of being a girl’s lavatory. And not only did he win his case in clearing out Slytherin’s name, but his cause had won him a rapport within the muggle-born community for not hiding that he was a half-blood that grew up in a muggle orphanage. 

At first, the purebloods did not know how to deal with him, especially the older generations who felt that he had tarnished Slytherin’s reputation and trampled with their deep-rooted culture. But because of his heritage as the founder’s heir and the prestige he had gained after the war with Grindelwald, his own generation had started to accept him. Tom’s passion for the much darker of the Magical Arts and hidden viciousness against the muggles had certainly helped as well. 

And with the previous Headmaster’s help in securing the Defense Against the Dark Arts position for him here at Hogwarts, where he could be influential but still remain safe from being targeted by those who deemed themselves more powerful than him, Tom had created the perfect station that would last for a very long time. A perfect base to reside in as he worked on world domination while teaching his future army on the side, and nobody would suspect a thing. After all, who would think that a passionate and charismatic DADA teacher was a Dark Lord all along? If Tom had fooled the great Albus Dumbledore after all these years with his methods, Tom was confident that he could fool anyone.

Tom heard a fluttering sound as he reached the second-floor corridor. At first, he thought that an owl must have wandered inside the castle, but then he heard a trade of amused hisses that echoed down the hallway. One of the hisses was from the very distinguishable hiss of his old giant serpent and the other one sounded far too small and young. He was not too concerned about how Basil had opened the door by herself, however. The giant snake knew how to keep herself safe around his students after all.

Tom concluded that there must have been a smaller snake loose in the castle. Probably a student’s pet who stopped by for a chat with Basil and currently, the both of them were hunting the wandering owl as their prey. But in case it was something else entirely, Tom casts a silencing spell and a disillusionment charm on himself, strong enough that it should cloak his smell that Basil could easily taste in the air. 

The door to the chamber was indeed open and Tom slowly moved closer to the entrance. There inside the antechamber, was Basil’s large head peeking out of the pipe that led down Slytherin’s chamber. But what made Tom stop to gape at the curious scene, however, was the animated small black feathered snake on the floor in front of the giant serpent. The feathered snake was moving all around with its wings flapping widely as it tried to tell a story so fast that Tom couldn’t make sense of it.

_~And then, and then, I got into trouble!~_ The small feathered snake hissed excitedly at Basil who in return hissed happily back prompting the little snake to go on. _~But I got out, you see! I got them, right? I was safe and now I’m here! Did I do well? Tell me I did well!~_

_~That you did, little one. That you did.~_ Tom had heard Basil laughed often but it was perhaps the first time that Tom heard the old serpent chuckled with obvious fondness in parseltongue. He also noticed that the normally pristine room was a mess. There were bread crumbs and sausages laying around and what could only be chicken bones had littered the marbled floor as well. 

Tom was awed at the rare creature and wanted to get closer, but in doing, so he had accidentally stepped on one of the bones on the floor. The sound made the feathered serpent slither away in panic. Tom had tried to block the door but the little snake was adept at wriggling out of his grasp even if he was still under the disillusionment charm. And whenever Tom’s fingers would brush the snake’s body or one of its wings --that he noticed was slightly crooked-- the snake would snap and try to bite at him that made Tom pull his arm back. 

He had tried to talk to the little snake but remembered far too late that he had cast a silencing charm on himself. By the time Tom had wandlessly canceled out his spells, the little feathered snake had escaped. Basil had laughed at him while he was busy glowering at her.

_~Why didn’t you tell it to stop?~_ Tom angrily hissed at the old serpent. _~You have the authority to order it to stay put, you bloody ancient noodle!~_

_~Because it was so much fun to watch, Tom. You should’ve seen yourself dance with the little hatchling,~_ Basil responded cheekily as she wriggled back down the pipes. Tom almost snorted. Of course, how could he have forgotten that Slytherin’s ancient experiment would be able to see through his basic spells. 

Basil’s hisses echoed loudly as she slid further and further down the pipeline. _~In addition, the pies and puddings he gave me were delicious. I wouldn’t sell out my young friend to you, heir Slytherin!~_ The large serpent had the audacity to snicker out a last reply. _~At least without a juicy meal, of course!~_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The buzz wasn’t exactly about Potter. Technically. It was about Ronald Weasley’s baby ‘pet dragon’.
> 
> “He’s still a baby that’s why his legs haven’t grown yet.”
> 
> Tom rolled his eyes and shook his head at the absurdity that was coming out of the boy’s mouth.

Tom sipped his morning tea as he leafed through a thick chronicle about the Potter family.

It was unfortunate enough that most Potters had difficulty in producing children, but it was also sad to see such a powerful and influential family in the Wizarding World inflicted with the common idiotic trait of Gryffindors. Such as the plentiful heroic activities that killed them all off throughout the years.

Nobody could refute that they were indeed great and famous, not just in Britain but in other countries as well, nevertheless, that was not what Tom wanted to know about. At least, not for now.

He closed the tome of chronicles then vanished it back to his quarters with a wandless spell. The records were outdated and don’t explain the current mystery that was plaguing him. Frustration would just give him indigestion and decided that it was better to have his breakfast for now.

Breakfast at the Great Hall after the Welcoming Feast was a quiet affair, supposedly. Most of the time, the first-year students were quite reserved to cause much ruckus so early in the morning. Typically, children from second-year and up wanted a bit of a lie-in, except for the few overzealous students and some of them were even sporting heavy bags under their eyes. 

Tom was certain those particular Ravenclaws haven’t even slept yet. He saw them last night working on an experimental potion when he went out to hunt a centaur. A centaur which he made sure that nobody would miss, of course and Basil was appreciative enough for her meal.

And even though Severus had grumbled about their _new celebrity_ for five times in a row now because of all the clamor coming from the Gryffindor table, the buzz wasn’t exactly about Potter. Technically.

It was about Ronald Weasley’s baby _‘pet dragon’_. Years ago, it was illegal to even personally own a dragon egg. But, to put it simply, because of Basil’s case, certain creature laws got revised and loosen up to some degree.

Tom rolled his eyes and shook his head at the absurdity that was coming out of the boy’s mouth while busily gathering food into his bag.

“He’s still a baby that’s why his legs haven’t grown yet.”

“Of course I know what I’m saying, my brother’s studying dragons in Romania!”

“Shut up Granger, you’re just jealous that I have two pets and you don’t have any.”

With a little bit of magic, Tom finished his food as fast and visibly normal as he could because of a hunch he wanted to follow through. He noted that the Weasley twins weren’t around and that the eldest Weasley had moved to approach the youngest Weasley who had started to get twitchy. 

“Oh look at the time, I still have to get my book for Transfiguration,” the boy quickly said then chuckled nervously before he continued with, “I should go.” Then snatched a few apples along the way.

The boy got out of the hall and Tom followed a few seconds later. He knew of the Marauder’s Map that was now in the hands of the twins, of course. It was nothing but an amusing novelty for him since he became the original Marauders’ professor. 

He then silently applied the counterspell to himself so that he won’t be detected by the map, then overlaid a simple _‘Notice-me-not’_ charm before he closed the distance between himself and the hasty first year.

The boy promptly ran towards his twin brothers when two identical heads peeked out from an alcove in a distance. 

“Fred! George! Have you finally figured out what to do yet?” The boy shouted then wheezed for air when he reached the identical twins.

Tom wasn’t far from the boy and saw that Ron Weasley cradled the winged serpent to his chest that was tightly wrapped around his lower arm while he carried the bag full of food.

“You came from the Great Hall, didn’t you?” One of the twins asked then the other twin swiftly followed with, “we told you to wait for us at the bloody tower!”

“But look at him. Harry’s trembling! And he’s so cold, George, I don’t know what to do.”

Tom was worried about what the boy had said and moved near to get a better look at the snake.

“Ugh! Then why go to the Great Hall then?” One of the twins pulled at his red hair in frustration while the other hurriedly flipped through a book that Tom recognized was from the restricted section. 

“On the train, Harry said that food is important and had always helped him. It’s the only thing I could think of.”

“Well Ron, food is the only thing in your head all the time.” Half of the twins turned to his other half who seemed to have found the page he was looking for. “So, what of it Fred, we haven’t done it before, do you think we could reverse Harry’s animagus transformation?”

“We don’t have a choice, George. We just have to _wing_ it.”

Tom couldn’t take their idiocy any longer and canceled the spells that concealed him.

“Imbeciles.”

The three students jumped from being startled so bad that one of the twins dropped his book and the youngest dropped his bag that made the food spill out of it. Tom rolled his eyes then summoned the book and righted the spilled food on the floor before he conjured floating heated stones in front of them.

“Place Mr Potter on the stones and follow me.”

The three brothers looked anxiously at one another before the youngest followed Tom’s initial demands. Harry did not want to uncurl from the boy’s arm at first but Tom hissed reassuringly at the winged serpent, and it dazedly curled comfortably over the heated stones, wings protectively hiding almost all of his body.

“Where are we going, sir?” The youngest Weasley asked. Tom was already on his way when he looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow at the boy.

“The astronomy tower.” When he received no response from the three, Tom added, “to the hospital wing, obviously.”


End file.
